Mycale (Mycale) myriasclera Lévi & Lévi, 1983

Van, Rob W. M., Aryasari, Ratih & De, Nicole J., 2021, Mycale species of the tropical Indo-West Pacific (Porifera, Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida), Zootaxa 4912 (1), pp. 1-212 : 143

Mycale (Mycale) myriasclera Lévi & Lévi, 1983

Mycale (Mycale) myriasclera Lévi & Lévi, 1983: 953 , pl. VII fig. 6, text-fig. 17.

Material examined. MNHN DCl 2966, holotype, New Caledonia, Banc de la Torche, 300 m depth .

Summary description. Semiglobular, yellow-ochraceous, firm mass, size 3 x 2.5 x 1.5 cm. Surface smooth formed by a thick ectosomal skeleton of tangential megascleres. Choanosomal skeleton consisting of thick megasclere tracts dividing dichotomously in the subectosomal region carrying the ectosomal region. Rosettes of anisochelae I and also of anisochelae II are found in the ectosomal region. Spicules: mycalostyles 750–900 µm, strongly curved anisochelae I with broad short upper alae 85–90 µm, anisochelae II 20–25 µm, trichodragmas/raphides 120 µm, the latter occurring in dense masses.

Distribution. New Caledonia, deep water.

Comment. Because of the shape of the anisochelae I, the present species appears closely related to Mycale (Mycale) dendyi , but that has anisochelae III, sigmas, and the mycalostyles are distinctly smaller.